War on Christmas

In the United States there is a controversy raging over whether or not there is a conscious attempt being made by some to suppress Christianity. There is a war on Christianity. There is not a war on Christianity. Progressives and /or liberals insist that Christian claims of cultural persecution are merely paranoia. Conservative Christians point out the banning of public religious displays, the silencing and even shunning of Christian voices on university campuses, and the fact that Christians are rarely portrayed in a positive light in the popular media.

There is currently a legal challenge from the Madison, Wisconsin based Freedom from Religion Foundation against a public nativity scene on town property in tiny Rainbow City, Alabama (2010 census population 9602). The two locations are separated by 825 miles (1328 kilometers). The foundation seems to think that any public display of religion is dangerous and threatening. They call their challenge part of the "critical work to promote non-theism and defend the constitutional separation between religion and government." They charge that the views of the religious are being imposed on others who do not share those views. They fail to understand or to acknowledge that what they themselves are doing is the imposition of their own values upon others.

A Google Search of "War on Christianity"on 14 December 2014 pulled up 11,300,000 results.   A Google Search of "War on Christmas"on 14 December 2014 pulled up 149,000,000 results. Those who deny that a war is ongoing are often very derisive. Listen to these quotes from various internet sites:

"... the claims of religious persecution are laughable."
"... the intellectually atrophied..."
"... undereducated, white, rural, gun carrying, fat."

What do you think?

"Amazing Grace" Performed On the Carillon

The carillon is the world's largest musical instrument, consisting of at least twenty-three large cast bronze bells housed, usually in a bell tower.  The bells can be rung to play a melody, or to produce chords, by a keyboardist performing on an organ-like set of wooden keys and foot pedals.  Music produced on a carillon can be heard for miles.

Most of the world's carillons are in the low countries of Europe.  There are 164 carillons in the United States, with many on university campuses and supported by the school's music departments.  Example's in the United States include Denny Chimes at the University of Alabama and the carillon at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama where Dr. Stephen Brooks Knight has been the carillonneur for thirty-eight years.

Amazing Grace

Demonstration of how a carillon is played

UAB Gospel Choir

This is the UAB Gospel Choir (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) singing Bishop Hezekiah Walker's composition, "God Favored Me.".




Hezekiah Xzavier Walker (b. 1962, New York) is a Grammy award winning gospel music songwriter a nd musician with eighteen albums of his own and others by groups he sponsors. He is the founder of the Covenant Keepers International Fellowship.

Book Comment: Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ...

Bradley Wright is a sociologist who does research on American Christianity.  He is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut.  In his book, Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ... and Other Lies You've Been Told (Bethany House, 2010), he examines several sociological databases for information by and about those in America who profess religious beliefs and those who don't.

To quote Dr. Wright, "The thesis of this book is that Christians are exposed to many inaccurate statistics about our faith."  Some of the factors which can result in misleading statistics are research questions which are not concise, a failure to accurately define exactly what is being measured, self-interest and philosophical bias, lack of formal training by researchers, lack of peer-review,  or an attempt to lead change rather than merely to accurately describe.

One example of misleading data which Dr. Wright cites is the fact that Baptists are apparently held in higher regard by other groups, including the religiously unaffiliated, than are Evangelicals.  This is odd since most Baptists would be classified as Evangelicals.

People not understanding the questions asked or the terms used is an obvious problem.  Dr. Wright asked some of his students to define "Evangelical."  The responses included "television evangelists" (several of whom are now discredited due to sexual or financial scandals),  and door to door missionaries, whose visits are much dreaded by many people.  Much of the validity of sociological research depends on how the researcher defines and asks the questions.

This is, at times, very detailed reading, but throughout, Dr. Wright tries to lighten it up by injecting humor into the text.   In Chapter One, he writes,"You should read this book because "there is a deeply disturbing trend of bad statistics that is sabotaging American Christianity and destroying the American way of life, and if you ignore it your entire body will soon be covered with boils.  The good news, however, is that if you buy this book and read it carefully, you will avoid this calamity; plus you'll live longer, have fresh breath, and your kitchen knives will always stay sharp."

UAB Gospel Choir

The UAB Gospel Choir held a fifteenth anniversary reunion concert at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in Birmingham, Alabama on Monday evening, 22 November 2010. The UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham)choir is under the direction of Kevin Turner. The choir has released four CD's and has sung with Stevie Wonder,Ruben Studdard, Lee Greenwood, and Taylor Hicks.


Since its creation in 1995, the choir has had over 4500 members. Average membership each semester is 120 to 150. Turner says, "We started with thirty students." Members of the choir study the history of gospel music, biographies of famous gospel performers,and techniques of performance and touring as a group; the academic study of gospel music.


The keyboardist for the group, Rev, Clinton Green, says, "There's not many places you can get a college credit for being in a gospel choir. It's preparing people for ministry." Seventeen other universities have begun gospel choirs on the UAB model.